Publications

Membraneless organelles, also known as biomolecular condensates, lack a surrounding membrane and are formed through liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). This process enhances reaction efficiency by compartmentalizing and concentrating reactants. Coacervates, a class of condensates, provide promising synthetic alternatives for improving enzymatic reactions. This review examines how LLPS enhances reaction efficiency in both natural and artificial systems, explores the design principles of coacervate-based artificial organelles employed in (bio)catalysis, and discusses challenges and future directions for leveraging LLPS in catalysis.

JTD Keywords: Acid, Activation, Catalysis, Coacervates, Compartmentalization, Droplets, In-vitro, Liquid-liquid phase separation, Membraneless organelles, Microdroplets, Nitric-oxide, Origins, Rna catalysis, Signaling molecules, Transition

Near-field optical microscopy is a technique not limited by the laws of diffraction that enables simultaneous high-resolution fluorescence and topographic measurements at the nanometer scale. This chapter highlights the intrinsic advantages of near-field optics in the study of cellular structures. The first part of the chapter lays the foundations of the near-field concept and technical implementation of near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM), whereas the second part of the chapter focuses on applications of NSOM to the study of model membranes and cellular structures on the plasma membrane. The last part of the chapter discusses further directions of near-field optics, including optical antennas and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy approaches in the near-field regime.

JTD Keywords: Biological membranes, Cell membrane nanoscale compartmentalization, Cellular nanodomains, Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy in reduced volumes, Immunoreceptor imaging, Lipid rafts, Near-field scanning optical microscopy, Optical nano-antennas, Shear force imaging, Single molecule detection, Super-resolution microscopy